Sylvan's Blog

Comment below and give me your email. I'll talk to you on MSN first, and after that I might add you here. This journal contains plenty of personal stuff, so I won't add you until I know you a bit.

Since I follow American politics very closely and watched the State of the Union speech this morning, I'll say that I think he's doing excellently. Not only that, but he will do better in the future.

It's an easy situation to simplify. America faces:
1. A jobs crisis even if it gets totally out of recession.
2. Two wars that have a very dubious value, though Afghanistan may be more justified than Iraq since the Taliban probably wouldn't understand diplomacy.
3. A health care system that needs to get with the picture, since universal health care DOES work, it absolutely has in Australia, which is basically US-lite. All the claims made by Republicans against such a possibility are baseless and false. And no, it has nothing to do with Communism.
4. The shame of the US continuing to be one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases because its energy and transport sectors are unnecessarily filthy.
5. Education becoming more difficult for the poor to pay for, especially after high school. There is a need for youth to get support through college and potentially throughout university.

The solutions are simple:
1&4. Create jobs and hit climate change simultaneously by making the green industry the most profitable and least taxed (keep regulations tight so green wash does not occur). Invest in businesses, large and small, especially those with aims the EPA evaluates as sustainable. Change reliance to sustainable long-term projects over short-term wallet bursting plans like oil. Do not expect the market to fix itself - that attitude is what killed it in the first place.
2. Get out of the Iraq War. Get out of Afghanistan in terms of military forces, but create schools and jobs there to create a cultural resistance to protectionism and independence from the outside world. In this way, you make a way for peace that will happen much later, which is more sensible than expecting anything but resentment after fighting the Taliban (who are, when all is said and done, there because there are many in the populace there who are willing to support them, not to mention enlist).
3. Get universal health care, or at least something that will benefit the lower classes, who are in a terrible situation as it is for health. America is a first world country, and it can afford to do so, just like most of the others in the first world. Those objecting because it will raise taxes really have no clue how luxurious their lives are by comparison to the second and third world, or worse, are selfish enough to make others suffer for their extra dollar a day.
4, continued. Clean up the dirty sectors by increasing regulations on their polluting. Consider a carbon tax.
5. Get some monetary aid for college students. If the budget is truly strapped then some is better than none, even if all fees being paid is preferable. Mitigating the problem is probably the best that can be done here, since the cost of this pales only in comparison to health care and security.

Obama will do, or has already started doing, all of these things. Therefore, I am absolutely certain he will be successful as a leader in governance. Whether he will win the election, sadly, is a bigger question. Unfortunately, style comes before substance in those terms, especially in a populace that has the "freedom" not to vote (and to be powerless).

Oh, god. Do NOT equate astrology to pathetic bullshit "psychics". They're not on the same level. They're not even related! Idiots. "Clashing" signs may take more effort to date with, but such relationships are encouraged by astrologers as lessons in tolerance and coping with disagreement.

Such relationships evolve us. Avoiding clashing signs is to the astrologer the same as swimming when you can surf - easier, less fun and less rewarding. And better for old people than the young.

"Be yourself".

The intent behind such advice is usually admirable, but if you try to logically figure out what that means, it really doesn't help. If you're a warrior at heart, but the situation demands peace, is "being yourself" good advice? My point exactly. We wear masks and take on personas for very real and practical reasons.

"Being yourself" is a piece of advice made for a perfect world with perfect people. It doesn't account for inner "flaws", otherwise known as our differences from the society we live in, or as our weakness of intention. I guess it's decent if the situation requires relaxation into your true self, but it's a very roundabout way of saying "relax", and no really finds that advice useful either, not on its own.

I really hate not knowing my role in things anymore. And it's perpetuated with everyone's lack of trust of each other here on LJ. Honestly it is.

Because if we trusted each other like we used to, we wouldn't bother pretending people will understand us if we write in riddle form. We would just say the facts straight and hard, with the spice we feel like adding, like we used to. Yes, dramas would develop. Yes, there would be some difficulty. But it would be better than this.

Not enough energy goes around here anymore. People need to stand up straight and tell each other what they really think, and if they don't like an entry or statement, they damned well better say so.

Silence is NOT better than making a criticism. Criticisms are like anything: there needs to be a balance! In this case, a balance of being tactful and giving the truth straight. You do each some of the time. But right now, there is a balance in the improbable direction that there aren't enough criticisms going around.

Are we all so afraid of each other that we don't say who we're talking about? If it's someone who no one on the list knows, then just say their name! It will have no effect. The whole point of the Internet is that these things rarely if ever bridge over into real world consequences. It happens, but only if we're DAFT.

Not everyone remembers the days when we used to trust each other completely, and just say who was pissing us off or what was going down, and try to solve it together rather than staying silent and letting the one person alone suffer it. Some of you think that these days were an imaginary past, because you've forgotten. But I just READ my oldest entries. I just read those innocent days. And that's really how we treated each other! We haven't LEARNED to be more mature, we've just plain stopped saying what's in our heads EVER. And it's killing whatever community we had here.

And yes, some things are better now. But a hell of a lot of them aren't! And if we just SPOKE instead of endlessly reading and not commenting on each other's entries, we'd get a lot more done and we'd all feel a lot more loved.

Some bad and some good is better than nothing at all. Remember that. And give people more of yourself. Because if you don't no one will and it has been proved a boring route. Let's have both the pain and the good times.

So if ANY of you have a problem with me or anything that I have said or done that you haven't told me before, have the courage to say it here. Hell, throw in everything you've ever wanted to say if you feel like it. This dam in the river has to run its course and explode sometime, and better sooner than later. Call it a meme if you want. In fact, how about I just write one up?

Post anonymously (or not, if you're brave) and say what you really feel about the poster. Everything from bad to good, and expect them to take it. If they post this meme, they are accepting before hand that whatever you say will be without consequence, and will not hurt your friendship. This is a mark of what they are willing to do for you.

If you have the courage to repost that meme and participate, you deserve the utmost respect from everyone here.

Power Strike II for Sega Master System. 15 years of gaming and three quarters of my life later, I still can't beat it (though I come close). It is supremely difficult, being an arcade style game.

Yes, but only in my primary school days, when I never even really thought about it. Like Halloween, in Australia, only kids really celebrate it here. That is, except for in the big cities where there may be some Irish/American population.

Myself. :P

Yes, in democracy by its very definition, church and state must be separate. The secular government model is important because it encourages the personal freedom to believe what you like.

The point that Church will undeniably influence state because of social and cultural links between the two is true, but the law should regulate by the opinion of the majority of people in the state and not religious institutions within the state. Otherwise the majority will not ever be satisfied, and therefore one smaller group (the institution) would have an unfair amount of control.

In the situation where a single religious group is actually the majority within the democracy (i.e. in America's case), the very important point is that there will also be division (on each specific political/legal issue) within that group. This division would be reflected in law in a secular state, as opposed to a religious state, where the official position of the institution would be the only one counted, with the disagreeing parties within that institution and outside it are left to suffer the consequences unfairly, completely unheard.

This explains why the secular model of government is fairer and more free than the religious one.

Anonymous commenting is turned ON. What I want you to do is a post a confession in a comment. It can be about anything at all. Even me, but post anonymously. It can be a deep, dark confession, or something just completely random. Has there ever been something you've always wanted to tell me, or anyone else? Now is the time. Post as often as you want, and I will most likely reply, so you may want to check back.

I thought I'd do this one again, everyone's doing it and what people have to say is always interesting. ^^

( I am GSF's Unofficial Tetris Champion! )

Anonymous commenting is turned ON. What I want you to do is a post a confession in a comment. It can be about anything at all. Even me, but post anonymously. It can be a deep, dark confession, or something just completely random. Has there ever been something you've always wanted to tell me, or anyone else? Now is the time. Post as often as you want, and I will most likely reply, so you may want to check back.

Hah, I love these things. If you have something to say, please give it a shot. I love it when people live proudly in the open.

Oops, another unintended Lloyd Irving quote there. XD